Three Little Birds

Three Little Birds

This song today because one day of Bob is never enough and my three little birds are the topic ! 

It is inevitable that when my subject is in the headlines that my thoughts turn to: economics, asset allocation and consequently on to jobs, abandoned careers etc. (Regular readers will know that in my life prior to home educating I worked, for a decade, as a Strategist and Analyst on the Asset Allocation team at a fund management house in the city) Although it was obvious, in my opinion, that the euro currency bloc would never survive long term it has not, until now, been imminent and in asset allocation timing is everything! 

Amplified thoughts because I'd really had enough yesterday. There was far too much bickering and squabbling for me and my patience  to handle and it was wearing me down. TDO sensed this and took S, 7,  and O, 3,  to the allotment for around 2 hours until about 9pm where, not only did they find green Chick Hicks in the sand but they had fun planting and growing and TDO said their behaviour was fab. O is driving me insane with his running off antics at the moment but for Daddy he held hands beautifully. He can go from 0-60 in under 3 seconds, a shock after 2 clingers.

This left me with just  E, 5,  to read of to sleep and very relaxed it was too. After having sent me loopy in the afternoon it was E who, single handled, helped me clear the floor in the lego room ready for the arrival of our cleaner this morning. Individually they are all fine but collectively they seem to have lost their playing groove. One of those days when I feel sure had I been raised as anything other than an only child myself I would never have considered siblings as a good idea.

So as well as the AA and the library (free) and Fishers Farm Park (Christmas present from G&G) we are now members of the National Trust (£36 per annum home educators special deal) as well as the Arundel Wetlands, the RSPB, (here we haven't been for ages because I suspect it is flooded and everyone seems to fall over when we go!) Bignor Roman Villa and, for two more weeks only, the gym! I still, given the weather forecast, couldn't find anywhere to go today.....Several of the above are either closed Thursdays or predominately outdoors or we had been  yesterday or earlier in the week so we landed up somewhere totally different.

Today we have been to the newly refurbished Sealife Centre in Brighton. S was very keen to see the new  jelly fish discovery zone so I shopped around on-line last night and found £30 entry for the  of us. It was a mixed morning, since the Brighton Wheel opened nearby the cost of parking has doubled in our usual spot, almost as soon as we got out of the car E walked straight into a bollard and fell back standing on my foot (he weighs about 30kgs and it hurt.) Plus it was freezing and really windy! Stuff blew out of the car as soon as I opened the door! O was gutted to find the Lightening McQueen has gone from the pier. He really liked the fish though, they are very relaxing.

 Jelly fish

Quick summary. Well, we went because it is indoors and we are fast expiring indoor destinations. By May in previous years I could have confidently headed to a nearby park for a few hours on a Thursday morning but not so this chilly year. The first couple of staff who were stationed at the baby British sharks and rays were really helpful and great with the trio, it really pissed me off that the guidebooks were deliberately stacked up by the till without a price on giving the children the impression they were free magazines, the craft area they so enjoyed before has totally gone in this refurb, the turtle feeding was okay but I think the trio watch too many nature programs on TV as they seem to know most of the facts.


It being Brighton there was, in addition to the obligatory school trip, a parade of foreign exchange students, from France I think, all carrying their rucksacks at just the same height as my children's heads **sigh**


 The new jellyfish disco is cool with its coloured lights but mirrors are cleverly placed to make it appear bigger than it really is. The exit through the gift shop has been altered making it harder to avoid the £3.00 for 30ps worth of sweets and other plastic rubbish which seems odd considering the conservation talk.

When you consider we joined the National Trust for only a few pounds more for the whole year earlier this week and the Museums and Galleries in London available for free I felt today was very expensive. We saw everything and it only took 2 hours.

It was way to cold to hang around much after. E's teethe were chattering! So we picniced in the car by the sea.  I suggested calling into Bramber Castle or Shoreham Airport on the way home but it started raining and O fell asleep and no one seemed keen.

S is totally absorbed by "How to Train your Dragon" at the moment she has the audio book on in her bedroom and the car constantly!

The memory stick file in the car is copied from an old recording and at the start it says "CD3" E made me feel really old when he said  "What's a CD?"